English [ edit ] Etymology [ edit ] Perhaps a calque of Latin potius sero quam numquam [1] Ab Urbe condita History of Rome ) by Titus Livius , around 27 BC.
better late than never
It is better to do something late , than to never do it at all.
c. 27 BCE , Livy , Ab Urbe Condita From the Founding of the City 1996 :(please add the primary text of this quotation) Their insolence and recklessness must be opposed, and better late than never . Translations [ edit ] it's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Albanian: më mirë vonë se kurrë
Arabic: أَن يَأْتِي مُتَأَخِّرًا خَيْر مِن أَلَّا يَأْتِي أَبَدًا ( ʔan yaʔtī mutaʔaḵḵiran ḵayr min ʔallā yaʔtī ʔabadan )
Armenian: լավ է ուշ, քան երբեք ( lav ē uš, kʻan erbekʻ )
Basque: hobe da berandu sekula baino
Breton: gwelloc'h diwezhat eget gwech ebet
Bulgarian: по-добре късно отколкото никога ( po-dobre kǎsno otkolkoto nikoga )
Catalan: més val tard que no mai
Chinese:
Mandarin: 遲 做 總 比 不 做 好 ／ 迟 做 总 比 不 做 好 ( chí zuò zǒng bǐ bù zuò hǎo ) , 亡羊補牢 ／ 亡羊补牢 (zh) ( wángyángbǔláo )
Czech: lepší pozdě než nikdy
Danish: bedre sent end aldrig
Dutch: beter laat dan nooit
Esperanto: pli bone malfrue ol neniam (eo)
Estonian: parem hilja kui mitte kunagi
Finnish: parempi myöhään kuin ei milloinkaan
French: mieux vaut tard que jamais (fr)
Georgian: სჯობს გვიან ვიდრე არასდროს ( sǯobs gvian vidre arasdros )
German: besser spät als nie
Greek: κάλλιο αργά παρά ποτέ ( kállio argá pará poté )
Hebrew: עדיף מאוחר מאשר לעולם לא
Hindi: जब जाति तब सवेरे ( jab jāti tab savere )
Hungarian: jobb későn, mint soha (hu)
Italian: meglio tardi che mai
Japanese: 遅くてもやらないよりまし ( おそくてもやらないよりまし, osokutemo yaranai yori mashi )
Kazakh: ештен кеш жақсы ( eşten keş jaqsy )
Latin: potius sero quam numquam potiusque sero quam numquam
Mari:
Eastern Mari: кызыт огыл гын, лучо вара ( kyzyt ogyl gyn, lučo vara )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: bedre sent enn aldri bedre seint enn aldri
Nynorsk: betre seint enn aldri
Persian: دیر آید و شیر آید ( dir âyad o šir âyad )
Polish: lepiej późno niż wcale (pl) , lepiej późno niż później
Portuguese: antes tarde do que nunca (pt) , mais vale tarde do que nunca
Romanian: mai bine mai târziu decât niciodată
Russian: лу́чше по́здно, чем никогда́ ( lúčše pózdno, čem nikogdá )
Slovene: bolje pozno kot nikoli
Spanish: más vale tarde que nunca (es) , nunca es tarde si la dicha es buena
Swedish: bättre sent än aldrig (sv)
Turkish: geç olsun da güç olmasın
Ukrainian: кра́ще пі́зно, ніж ніко́ли ( krášče pízno, niž nikóly )
Urdu: دیر آئے درست آئے ( der ā'ye durust ā'ye )
Welsh: gwell rhywbryd na byth
See also [ edit ] References [ edit ]
^ Butterfield, Bruce J. (1996 ) “Livy's History of Rome”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name) [1] mu.edu ), archived from the original on 15 September 2012